Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by salvo:

Pours filtered crystal clear into a pint glass with a full inch of foamy off-white head; beautiful red-brown beer with enough carbonation to replenish the head. Strong lacing on the glass. Rich spicy aroma from the rye; piny hops with hints of floral and tropical fruit notes. Guava smells more prevalent as it warms.

Rich spicy malt flavor is first as piny hops fill the nose. Then the hops are on the tstebuds: pine and citrus (grapefruit and lemon) with hints of musty guava skin and flesh. Ends dry and sightly astringent. Long drying hop finish.

This is a wonderfully tasty, spicy, hoppy new beer from Sierra Nevada, and one of few that has really lived up to the hype from the first-gen independents for me in a while. Can't wait to try it on tap.

More User Reviews:

12 ounce bottle into signature pint glass, bottled on 12/4/2014. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy deep orange/copper color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, floral, grass, spicy rye, light caramel, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/pine hops and moderate rye/bready malt notes; with good strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, floral, grass, spicy rye, light caramel, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness. Good amount of pine/grassy bitterness and rye spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon/orange zest, pine, spicy rye, toasted bread, and floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice balance, robustness, and complexity of citrus/pine hops and moderate rye/bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, fairly crisp/sticky, and lightly creamy/bready mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with minimal warming present after the finish. Overall this is an excellent rye IPA style. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/pine hops and moderate rye/bready malt flavors; and very smooth and crisp to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

Poured into a nonic a clear rich copper/bronze with a large blooming head that left a few broken rings of lace behind as it settled slowly.Not as assertive in the nose as I expected,it does have a decent shot of grapefruit-like hop aromas with some mild rye spice.Much fuller flavors with a nice mix of nutty malt mixed with spicy rye and a healthy dose of citric hops,well rounded.A very solid rye offering from SN wich frakly I expected,I could drink this all day.

Pours a deep copper color, red and orange tones here and there. Nice clarity all around; very small bits of sediment hang in suspension throughout the brew. Creamy, off-white head settles to a quarter-inch quickly and leaves some nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is deep and heavy pine and hop oils, super wet, dark, and dank weed. Citrus notes bring up the rear end; tangerine, grapefruit. A little bit of dryness from the rye but not much in the aroma. The taste, however, is plentiful with rye - the large rye under body is the canvas upon which the rest of the beer lies. Hops go wild but don't overpower nor combat the rye for dominance; oily and resinous pines engulf, along with a slight white pepper spiciness. Some earthy herbal flavors pull through more and more; faint musty dirt, but not in a bad way. The citrus is a little more subdued on the palate than it was in the nose, and it takes on more of a light lemon zest flavor than the nose would lead to believe. Even in the finish, the rye is still popping and meshes with a nice yeast flavor in the aftertaste, along with some fading, dry bitterness. Medium bodied, although the mouth is somewhat thinner than expected and just a touch watery at times. Decent amount of carbonation.

What hasn't been said about Sierra Nevada already? Everything they put out it delicious. Ruthless Rye is a nice "Rye-PA" with a significant amount of rye and a nice hop profile to go along with it. Delicious stuff, here.

Ruthless Rye certainly has the look down; a body that mixes brown, orange and red is crowned with a towering head of light tan foam that has ridiculous retention and leaves behind some great lacing.

The aroma has a big dose of citrus, is a little bit spicy and has notes of caramel as well. Ruthless Rye is bright and citrus-flavored immediately, bringing the hop profile that I have come to expect from Sierra Nevada. Grapefruit, orange, hints of resin and just a touch of pine combine with considerable bitterness. The spicy, almost peppery rye flavors are noticeable without being overwhelming, with a little bit of caramel and even some powdery cocoa to back it up.

Slightly oily on the tongue with a fairly full body for an IPA. Ample carbonation gives a smooth and creamy feel.Ruthless Rye is a hoppy beer with rye in the background. If you like Sierra Nevada's other hoppy beers, then you will dig this one if you like rye.

aroma: pine and citrus with a hint of pineapple and tropical type aromas. There is some grassy notes with a light malt sweetness. There is moderate rye spiciness to the aroma.

appearance: golden orange and clear with an ivory head that forms a half inch of rocky, longlatsting head.

taste: a good deal of citrus with a lot of that spicy pepper/rye character. There is some mango towards the back mixed in with some pineapple. There is a assertive hops bitterness with just enough malt for support. The balance is very bitter. The finish is dry with a linger hop bitterness aftertaste.

A: Great white head that settles (laces a little).S: a pineapple/hoppy wild flower.T: a wonderful toasted malt then a malt flavor ending in a clean hoppy taste.M: A solid rye front and ending in a solid HARD hop taste.O: It has the hit of rye up front, shortly after a heavy ale, and ends with a solid IPA KICK. A definite easy drinker for IPA fan, but enough IPA to keep us coming back when we want less than a IPA/dipa.

A very clear amber. Really clear - like the lovechild of an amber and a West coast IPA. A lot of rye in the nose. Smells similarly to their Northern Harvest, but with some lighter pine undertones. You can catch some citrus on the top, as well. Hmm, this is interesting. Quite thick to start with no real identity. Then the rye, grain and bread notes explode and make it taste almost like an American lager. The pine notes push their way forward on the back end and try to substantiate the IPA claim. I'm not catching much citrus, just a lot of pine and rye. It's ok, but nothing I'd regularly drink.

T - Much like the smell, caramel malt, some sweetness from botht the malt and rye and some spiciness from the rye and hops. Predominately citrus hops, but a good bit of pine also. Ends with bitter kick.

M - Moderate body, some coating of the mouth from the malt and the resinous hops accentuate this. I think the carbonation is spot on but for the body, I'd like a little more alcohol to dry the palate.

O - Very good rye beer from SN, will definitely have again and I think it is a good rye beer to introduce people to the grain.